7th May, 2021
The Chief Judge of Edo, Justice Esther Edigin, on Friday, granted freedom to two inmates of Auchi Medium Security Correctional Centre.
The freed inmates, who had been incarcerated since 2013 for offences, such as stealing and murder case gained freedom when the CJ visited the facility.
The visit was part of activities marking her disengagement as Chief Judge of Edo.
Edigin admonished the freed prisoners to ‘go and sin no more’, adding that they should not breach the law again.
“Today’s exercise focuses on categories of inmates awaiting trial, who have been in custody for six years or more.
“Inmates freed include those who are terminally ill, low-risk offenders, aged inmates, inmates sentenced to death and have exhausted all legal procedures for appeal and with 10 years elapsed without execution of the sentence.
“Let me say a few words about this last category of inmates.
“They are potential beneficiaries of the discretion granted the chief judge to commute the death sentence of this category of inmates on death row to life imprisonment by virtue of section 12 (2) (C) of the Nigerian Correctional Service Act,’’ she said.
The outgoing CJ thanked the members of the Administration of Criminal Justice Monitoring Committee for their support and effort aimed at decongesting correctional/custodial facilities.
While welcoming her to the centre, the Deputy Controller of Auchi Command of the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCS), Jude Agboje commended the chief judge for her efforts at ensuring that only those qualified inmates benefited from the exercise.
Agboje said that such exercise would assist the correctional centre in the management of other inmates.
He, however, appealed to Edigin to help the centre to liaise with the state government to introduce free treatment for inmates in a government hospital as well as logistics for court and clinical activities.